50th Anniversary Alumni Corps Steering Committee

Believe it or not, Bluecoats will celebrate its 50th anniversary in just a few years! One of the featured events planned for 2022 is an Alumni Corps performance fit to celebrate this grand birthday. A fantastic steering committee of alumni have been gathered to lead the Bluecoats Alumni Corps effort. Read the Press Release accepting Drum Corps International’s (DCI) Invitation for performing at the 2022 DCI Semifinal’s.

Ted Swaldo, Chairman
In 1984, Ted took over the Bluecoats as Executive Director, a volunteer position he held until his retirement in 1994. During his tenure, Ted’s management abilities, and enthusiasm became the catalyst, which not only propelled the Bluecoats into national recognition as a competitive unit, but also as a role model for other youth organizations throughout the country. Under his leadership, the corps jumped from 28th to 8th place in Drum Corps International in just five short years. Ted served as the DCI Chairman of the Board in the early 1990s and still serves on the Bluecoats Board as the Director Emeritus. Ted was inducted into the Bluecoats Hall of Fame in 1992.

Larry Hershman
Larry joined the Bluecoats organization in the fall of 1985 as the corps’ first Program Director. Under Larry’s tutelage, the corps finished 15th in 1986 and by 1989 was 8th. Larry returned to the corps in 2000 as Program Coordinator again and led the Bluecoats back into the top 12 and continued in that role through 2003. He was instrumental in the management structure change that saw the first ever full- time corps director. Larry was the driving force behind various drum corps all-star corps in the 1990s, bringing together over 300 participants in each year’s unit. Larry was inducted into the Bluecoats Hall of Fame in 1991.

Bill Hamilton
Bill started his marching career as a charter member of the Bluecoats in 1972. After marching in the corps for seven years, Bill stayed on to serve as brass instructor, brass caption head, and then tour coordinator before serving as corps director until 2003. In his role as Corps Manager, Bill is responsible for managing the day-to-day logistics, housing, transportation, and scheduling for both the winter camps and the annual 12,000 mile summer tour. Bill is the longest active member of the Bluecoats organization, having been involved as a member, instructor or administrator in all but three years of the corps existence while completing a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from Bowling Green State University. Bill was inducted into the Bluecoats Hall of Fame in 1991.

David Glasgow
David served as Executive Director between 2004
and 2018. Prior to taking on this role, he served as
Assistant Director in 2003 and Tour Coordinator in
2002. David is also a proud alumnus of the Bluecoats,
having been a marching member for four years,
serving his final two years as Drum Major. In his
final five seasons as Executive Director of the
Bluecoats, the corps finished as a medalist in four of
those, including the organization’s first World
Championship in 2016. David was inducted into
the Bluecoats Hall of Fame in 2017.

Lane Armey
Lane was a 6-year member of the Bluecoats, marching Quads from 1993 to 1998, and was the Percussion Member of the Year in 1997. He returned to teach the BlueQ in 2001 and was Percussion Caption Head in 2003 and 2004. After moving to California in 2005, Lane began working with the Homestead High School Percussion Ensemble, helping to lead them to 5 WGI World Class Finalist appearances. Lane is the VP of Marketing for the Proximity Group, a collection of e-commerce businesses. He lives just outside of Sacramento with his wife Vanessa. His sister Mandy is a 5-year veteran of the Bluecoats Front Ensemble (1996-2000), and his mom Dinah is a Bluecoats Hall of Fame member as a long-time volunteer.

Jenn (Johnson) Renaud
Jenn was a member of the Bluecoats color guard from 1999 to 2003 and served as the captain in her final two seasons. She remained with the corps after aging out as Tour Director from 2004 through 2007. Jenn continued to work in the color guard world with Pacific Crest and several Orange County, California guards for the next decade after leaving the Bluecoats. After “retiring” from instructing, she briefly worked with Creative Costuming and Designs in various departments. Jenn has remained active within the Bluecoats organization by assisting with the California audition camps and supporting the corps and members with whatever is needed throughout the seasons.

Jay Wise
Jay has been involved with the Bluecoats in many wide-ranging capacities dating back 30 years. He was a member of the horn line in the late 1980s, worked briefly as instructional staff in the early 1990s and volunteered as a bus driver, souvenir salesman, and public relations coordinator through the mid-1990s. He was named to the Bluecoats Board of Directors in 1995 and a year later the Assistant Director, a position he held through May 1997. After stepping away from the activity, he returned in 2012 to play a minor role in the 40th Anniversary celebrations and then helped to form and lead the alumni ensemble Rhythm IN BLUE beginning in 2014. Jay was inducted into the Bluecoats Hall of Fame in 2018.

Mike Scott, Ex-OfficioMike is the new Chief Executive Officer of Bluecoats. He has been a year-round employee at the organization for several years, serving before that as a summer tour manager. Mike has brought many new programs and projects to Bluecoats during his time here. Most recently he oversaw the launch of The Shield, an exciting new monthly giving community as well as managing our roll-out to the Salesforce platform, a key step in the growth of the organization. Previously, Mike was the Chief Executive Officer at Rhythm X, Inc. a small performing arts non-profit that produces WGI performance ensembles in the United States and Europe, and a global educational brand called The X Academy. Mike marched in the corps in 2011 serving as an Asst. Conductor. He earned a degree in Music Education at Miami University in 2012. He currently resides in Canton, OH.